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First Encounter
The portal was nothing like Pvt Mullen had ever experienced before... and that was saying something. He had patrolled in all sorts of post-apocalyptic nightmares, landscapes tortured by time and ancestors. Now he rushed across the ground, the voice of his commanding officer in his ear, the hum of the electromagentic frame growing louder-- all the hairs on his body stood on end. Suddenly, he was on the pad, and then he wasn't. He wanted to scream, or curl into a ball, or maybe just to die, and then it was over. He was standing in a meadow... the only thing that kept him linked to Home was the staticky hushed radio in his ear. He looked around and-- "Holy Jesus," he murmured, taking in the hideous battle. He tried to step back, but only made room for the next man to come through....
The arrival, all of a sudden, of a human from a circle on the ground barely disturbs the battle. The combatants are much too involved in the process of trying to kill each other to pay attention to one measly human.
To the left of the portal is one hulking corpse, that of a massive, lupine Demon with leathery blackish-brown skin, pierced in many places by the huge, thick spined vines that killed it. Off to the right an Earth dragon scream-roars as she's hit by a boulder tossed by the Demon she's fighting. Behind, two Demons double-team a single, huge Earth dragon. The gem-encrusted hide of the light-magic creature is torn in places and its strength is obviously lagging.
As Mullen backs away, another soldier appears, then another... Mullen is too afraid to say anything, but his compatriot isn't. "Serg, we've got some problems Port' side, requesting -immediate- backup. Repeat, Immediate backup!" The third soldier takes in his surroundings; his wits are obviously about him. The static of the radio breaks momentarily, and Sergeant Roset's voice makes a crackily appearance, deep and authoritative, "Back up on the way," And to the men still in the control room, "move it, double time ladies!" Mullen listens to the conversation, still in shock and unable to move a muscle. The Sargeant directs his voice back to the third Private, "What's the problem, son?" "Four hostile creatures... -big-, monsters! They don't seem to notice us..." The sergeant sounds critical, "Monsters, son?" His voice is interrupted with static as another batch of soldiers makes it through. A burst of expletives cuts off anything the man is about to say. Mullen begins to feel the numbness plagueing his body melt away... slowly, so slowly. He speaks into his head-piece, "Tank-sized, larger maybe. Looks like one's been taken out already, sir," His voice is shaky. "You'd better get out here, fast!"
The arrival of more men and the constant black-white energy of the portal is attracting unwanted attention, finally. The dying Dragon behind is finally allowed a small break as one of the Demons tormenting it gets bored and starts loping towards the portal, remembering something his leader said about Dragons making deals with Humans. Maybe these strangely-clad little two-leggers have something to do with that, he reasons, and growls deep in his throat.
The Dragons, too, though, have caught the scent of the foreign mortals. The female Earth dragon to the right swings her head around to look at the growing group, dancing to avoid another boulder from her opponent. A gale-force gasp escapes her, and a boulder clips her in the side before she leaps off the ground and into a tree, vinelike tail stabilizing her. Then the arriving military forces get a very strange experience.
~HUMANS! There are HUMANS on the battleground!~ The Earth Dragon bellows with her mind, alerting the other dragons in the area of the odd situation, and by virtue of not having time to sharpen her broadcast to only dragons, her words carry to the humans.
The shouts of the men over the sudden mind-resounding voice are drowned out by the high-volume bark of Roset, using his intercom to best affect. "Taylor, unpack that Launcher! Mullen! What are you doing? Taking a ****?! I said move it!" the Private grimaces, but nods anyways. He turns towards the racing, snarling Demon, though his eyes linger over the Dragon for a moment. As he races to the formation, he tries (tentatively), ~Can you hear us? Was that you?~ He feels as though he might faint, as though he's delierious enough to try to -think- to a beast that may just as soon rip out his throat... or stomp on him. Behind him another soldier hurriedly unpacks a rocket launcher-- the one hastily brought after the first request for backup. Mullen prays that it will have some affect as he opens fire with the rest of the men.
The Dragon's step falters, surprised at the projected thought - almost a trained psi, but lacking the range and knowledge, even if the innate skill seems to be there. She continues without replying just yet, though, seeing the Demon's growing rage, and moments later slams into the side of the beast. He howls and she screeches and digs her claws into his back, distracting him even if she can't do much damage from this perch. Finally she looks at Mullet - directly into his eyes, in fact - and tones down her mental voice to a whisper akin to his in a hasty reply.* ~Yes and yes. I suggest you run, though, human!~
As if on cue, the forest around them bursts into action. First, two more dragons, pursued by two more Demons come into view. A dragon leaps overhead, bending the trees with his powerful will to smack at and try to bind the Demons he can see. Nearby screeches and howls can be heard. The group of humans has found themselves in the center of the battle.
Mullen's eyes grow wide upon hearing the voice inside his head. It isn't his language, nor does it sound imaginary. He doesn't understand the words, but the tone of the voice is clear! "Serg!" He calls as he backs again towards his commander. The Demon is growing dangerously close... enough so that most of the men were starting to sweat. Taylor, Launcher in hand, shouts over the intercom, "Packing heat! Outta the way!" A number of men dive for cover as the soldier launches the rocket. The resounding blast of it deafens Mullen for a moment, but he shouts none the less. "Serg! We've gotta retreat, for now!" He points to the explosion of new activity from the forest thickets. They could buy some time if the Demon had taken that missile...
The sound the Demon makes when the missile hits is an eerie, keening and ear-tearing sound, the howl of a doomed beast. He'd reared up onto powerful hindlegs to try and get the Dragon off his back, and the missile hit his chest, making a wreck of the skin, flesh, and muscle below. The hulking creature stumbles, and in a last attempt to take down someone, at least, he falls sideways and rolls, his massive weight catching the too slow to dislodge Earth dragon under him as he dies messily.
One of the soldiers isn't fast enough. He rolls, but too late. The massive monster crushes him, as well, and his scream of pain is drowned by the commosion of the battle. The Sergeant has been shouting for retreat, and now the men aren't just backing up, they're running, realizing that they probably aren't going to make it, and thanking whatever divine powers they believe in for that missile for hitting home. Mullen isn't the slowest of them, but for some odd reason he hangs back, worry masking his terror. Had the Dragon made it? Most of the men had disappeared under the foliage, bent under the weight of rucksacks, gear, and their velocities. Roset turned to catch Mullen stopping at the edge of the battle field, and shouted, "Pick up the pace, soldier! This isn't our battle!" The Private shook his head, looking torn by anxiety. He didn't know what he was thinking but, "Don't worry about me, Serge! I'll be all right!"
The Demons are coming after them, the Dragons trying to stop their opponents. The two species have very different attitudes towards humans, not to mention the Demons want to avenge the gory death of their teammate, enraged that such puny creatures can weild such "magic" against them in such an effective manner.
A Demon bursts in from the foliage to the left, a smaller one this time, and he leaps at one of the men, massive jaws gaping in a bloodlust-crazed howl. The Demons behind are catching up, although many are tripped up by out-of-place vines falling to wrap around them or treeroots bursting from the earth to trip them.
Sergent Roset curses again. They're going to get slaughtered out here! He tries the comm, searching for the head quarters to see if he can call in more troops. Twelve, no, eleven men aren't going to be enough to stop this battle! He finally picks something up, fuzzy shouting: techs just chicken-necking around not knowing what to do. His voice is hoarse as he tries to message them... "You hear me? You God-damned techies, send in some armour!" He pauses as one of his men a few metres ahead is taken down by one of those hellions. A few break into fire, a few dodge out of the way and keep running. "We're getting murdered out here!" He cursed again, brought his rifle to bear on the Demon, and wondered through all the madness where the hell Mullen had gotten to.
The Demon Sergeant Roset shoots at recoils, whining in pained rage, one eye now closed. It was a lucky shot, it hit close enough to the eye to hurt the whole area. Unfortunately, Demons have thick skulls, and are very persistent. The Demon, obviously intelltigent, sizes up his opponent angrily and growls, keeping low and weaving towards him , quick as a fox. Back in the direction of Mullen, the battle still rages, but it's passing him by. The huge corpse of the Demon they killed seems to twitch, seeming for a horrifying moment that it's going to get up and start moving again. But no, the creature of caves and dank fungus is very thoroughly dead - it's the female Dragon pinned beneath him, trying to squirm to freedom. A few tense moments pass and she half bursts out from under the hill-like corpse, eyes wide and glazed with the kind of usually fatal agony that comes with crushed bones and organs.
Mullen approaches the wounded Dragon, not realizing his miraculous luck. It had saved their lives! They had just arrived, and it had risked it's own just to save them! He comes near, hardly noticing the portal lighting up again. "Don't move! You'll be all right..." he licks his lips nervously. He has no idea how he can fulfill that promise, but he will... "There are more people on the way!" How absurd, to be talking to an... an alien! "Can you understand me?" Meanwhile, Roset had stops short. The monster is coming in to fast... he doesn't know if he could move in time to avoid it. Suddenly, a missile whines by him, mere inches from his head. He ducks and rolls from instinct. Taylor had managed to reload his Launcher even while running! Roset can feel the blood pumping hard as he comes to a stop. In his ear, he hears the hissing of the radio rise, as someone tries to communicate. "Sending ar------- on its w-------" Then another, much clearer voice projects, "Armor arrived, Sergent Roset. Whooey, we've got a little mess in the works here. State your location and we'll come in after you." True enough, to mechs, tank-like but man-sized, had crossed to Avengaea. What help they would do... Roset hopes it will be better than what they are facing now.
The Dragon groans, a surprisingly human sound, and with shaking forelimbs tries to drag herself the rest of the way to freedom. ~I.. hear you... question is... can you understand me?~ *she gasps as a rib poking through the skin catches on some part of the demon, and stops moving, shuddering in agony.* ~If you can... run. Not sure.. how many more Demons...~
Meanwhile, Roset's opponent is caught by surprise by the missile. it impacts with his shoulder, shattering the massive armoured shoulderblade and making a good-sized dent in the flesh. The Demon, surprised, goes down, falling hard on his chest and neck. Roset is one of the lucky ones, though. Demons are systematically pack-hunting the humans, the three that are still up surrounding the fleeing bipeds and darting in and out to go for the kills and trying to fend off the Dragons. The armour remains unnoticed for now, the conflict condensing.
Finally the biggest Demon goes down, wrapped up in a lucky bunch of tree roots, throat torn out by a pair of Earth Demons. Two are left hunting the humans, and one injured on the trail behind.
Mullen nods incoherently, feeling the words in his mind, even if he can't understand them. He's a trained soldier, for Gods' sakes! He should know what to do right now! He looks around wildly, spots the armor, and tries his mic to see if they can hear him. "I've got a... a man... a man down! Request assistance immediatly!"
Roset is stunned for a moment with horror. Never has he come across anything so vicious, and he had done his stint on Mars! He shouts to the remaining men, five in all, to regroup. He may be morally chilled to the bone, but he is still thinking. The Demons hunt like wolves... their mistake had been running away. If he can just get them to reach the field in time, perhaps he can lure them to the armor. "Mech units," he huffed, for he was beginning to run out of breath, "We're due north of.... the portal. Heading back..."
The dragon wheezes, laying her head on the ground and coughing once, a bit of bloody froth escaping. She's realized he doesn't understand a word she's psi'ing, and although she understands his words through the usual Draconic magic. Thinking of something, she curses listlessly in Draconic. If only there was some way to get him to understand.... she doesn't have the strength to pull herself out, but if she changed to human form, maybe he would.
The sudden halt of the running humans confuses the demons for a moment, and both overshoot their mark by several strides. The Dragons are quick to take advantage of this, dropping from the trees to act as living barriers between the humans and the two Demons left. Close combat breaks out between the three dragons and two demons, buying the humans some time.
Roset manages a glance behind him, and wanted to let out a woop of joy! The Dragons are defending them! He doesn't know why, nor does he care. If only he can get his men (the few who have survived) back to the portal... they'll be safe. Taylor is just a step ahead oh him... he notices how the Private is beginning to lag, and who wouldn't, toting that huge Launcher? He catches up to the younger man and takes the weapon, aware that this is probably a stupid thing to do, but hoping to help however possible. The rifles don't seem to have much effect, other than angering the beasts, but the Launcher does. Taylor is the best aim with it, and Roset doesn't want him to be lost.
Back at the Portal, one of the mechs approaches Mullen, his armoured head turning visibly in search of the 'man' down. Crackling static bursts over the com as he queries the soldier.
Mullen points to the Dragon, who is visibly in great pain. The mech's face, hidden by the face-plate, must be skeptical...
Skepticism may be replaced by something else, as both who are by the Earth Dragon witness the sudden change. Her massive, injured body glows and then seems, in a blink of an eye, to melt down to only a portion of her previous size. There, where a hulking beast lay before, is a supposedly human woman with glossy brown hair and earthy brown skin. She's also in very bad shape, face contorted in a more human expression of agony. Whimpering, in those brief seconds before the corpse of the Demon settles down upon her again, she tries to curl away from it and free herself.
The battle rages behind Roset and his troops. It is brief but bloody, one Earth dragon falling, keening. One of the Demons breaks free to pursue the humans, more interested by them than by the Dragons, who are now occupied with bringing down his packmate. As well, on the trail before them lies the Demon with the crushed foreleg, who is snarling like a rabid beast as he forces himself back up to face the advancing troops and rip them several new ones.
Mullen doesn't waste any time... miracle after miracle! He pulls at the Dragon-turned-human's arm pitts, pulling with just enough force to free her of her hideous prison. An audible noise of surprise, confusion, and anger can be heard from the mech, who hasn't witnessed any of the strange things that the Dragons have been doing. Finally the armored man says flatly, "Get her--it to the portal. We'll cover for you..."
Roset holds up the launcher, trying to home it in on the beast that blocks their paths. Aims. Pulls the trigger. Nothing. There's only one round in this thing! He curses, looks at his men. They're soldiers.... he looks again. They're scared men who just want to get out of here. He looks at each of them, his face grim... and they seem to understand. They go still as he begins to shout, holding up the Launcher as if nothing is wrong "Take this, scum bag! Ya heard me! Over here!" The Sergeant begins to move away from his stragly troop, hoping to lure the beast away. Even if he had to die, his men could survive to tell his tale.
The Dragon expells a frustrated breath, but can do little more than that, as any sort of movement hurts like nothing else.
"No, no!.. Healers are..coming..." She curses weakly again, knowing they can't possibly understand.
The Demon chasing Roset and his men grins a very toothy, very ominous grin, skidding to a brief halt when the man stops and waves his arm. "Fool," the demon snarls, regardless of the fact that his language is unintelligable to these odd humans. "I am not a mere beast to be distracted by that trick." Giving a dismissive flick of his tail, he lowers his head and bolts after the majority of the men.
Roset fumbles. Swears. Wolves! They're supposed to be like wolves! This one had been rabid with pain! Or it had been an illusion... that damnable Demon! A trick! Roset lowers the Launcher, aware only that he can do nothing, regretting the mistakes he's made. The men, rather than scatter, as they had in the past, bring up their weapons. Taylor holds up his pistol, a puny thing, compared to the rifles. Three of the men fire at once. Roset shakes his head... it won't help at all. From behind comes the noise of metal on metal: armor!
The Sergeant looks up, spots the glimmering mech as it charges through the undergrowth, tearing through the branches. It gains on the Demon, reaches for its tail, and pulls (if it has caught it). /Mullen tries to hush the injured Dragon, who seems to be muttering in her delirium. "Don't worry, we've got medics. I'm sure they'll be on hand. They've heard us, they've sent Armor, you'll be all right!"
It's almost a comical sound, the noise the Demon makes when he finds himself tugged backwards by way of his tail. He falls, snarling, put completely off-balance, and turns to face the human-sized but nonhuman mass of metal, wondering what new sorcery is this. Meanwhile, the Demon with the shattered leg still on the trail is limping, three-legged, in the direction of the troops, trying to stay low so they don't see him till it's too late.
She groans, breathing shallow, and shakes her head. "Of course I'll be alright, idiot! I'll be better than alright when the Whites arrive."
An idea occurs to her. For someone whose mind is clouded with the agony of a dying being, she's having a lot of those today. Closing her eyes, she summons up her psi again, having to re-focus a few times before being able to form the link. Then through it comes, instead of words, pictures. Irridescent white dragons, flying through the sky, the same white dragons landing here, surrounding her with a white glow that closes the wounds. Unsure if they all got through, she breaks the link, exhausted, and falls into a semi-conscious state.
The men make a break for it. They're tired, exhausted by overdoses of adrenaline, by the very real danger they're in, but they break for it. Roset nearly cheers as they go: he doesn't have to waste breathe ordering them! He begins to move, as well, all the while contemplating dropping the Launcher behind him. But no, it could be useful. They pass the mech, who has dug his heals into the earth and is currently working his way up the tail of the offending beast. Along his arms are a number of small Archer missiles. He will use them only if he has to... he hasn't seen the horrible things the Demons have done.
Finally, Mullen gets the message. Medics! Dragon medics! He wondered why they weren't on hand immediatley; bad chain of command, probably. He carried her back to the portal anyways, waiting on the edge, just in case a Demon happened upon them.The mech followed, stationing himself a few metres distant. If a Demon tried to get near, he would blast them.
The trapped Demon is snarling with anger now that such a puny thing would be able to hold him. With some strain, he curls his massive hyena-like body around and bats at the mech, feet planted firmly, trying to get the metal thing before it gets too far up his body for him to hit easily. He lashes his tail, whipping at the armour, and squirms around, snarling like the beast he said he wasn't.
If Mullen is watching the skies, he may in the distance see flecks of white against the clean daytime blue, approaching at what seems to be incredible speeds. There are three dots in all, one smaller than the other two.
Roset and his five men manage to reach the edge of the forest, the bright day-light seeming almost heavanly after the dimness the trees had created. Two men stop, hands on knees, panting heavily. The Sergeant, Taylor, and two more continue running. The mech stationed near the portal catches sight of them and lifts an arm to acknowledge their approach. The other mech, sweating in his suit with strain, nearly loses his grip as the thing curls over to bite him. Taking his chances, the mech allows the Demon to come around, even to take an arm that had come free. Then the Archer missiles deploy.
Mullen crouches on the ground, head held up to catch these 'white dragons' that he had 'seen' just moments before. He thought that he'd caught the specks, tiny, but growing visibly.. Were they really approaching? He wanted to rub his eyes but dared not.
The impact of missiles on flesh at close range has gory results. The Demon's flesh, where they impact, almost seems to burst, and the lupine thing yips and releases the offending arm, stumbling backwards and falling heavily, in the process of dying. The two Earth dragons who were fighting the last Demon come moments after, panting, and look on the scene with weary but surprised eyes. ~I didn't think humans could do -that-,~ one rumbles mind-to-mind with the other. The Demon who had been slinking after the troops curses, having lost them, and crouches low, then thinks better of staying like this and reverts to human form, curling up in hiding under a tree root. Zenite's servants must hear about this new atrocity....
The specks in the sky grow, one getting much larger. One of the three had cast a spell of hasting on himself, and is arriving at double speed. Soon the whole squadron, or what's left of it, sees the magnificent irridescent creature in the sky above, decending down to land and skillfully changing to human form right then and there. Not realizing that these are foreign humans, he tilts his head, speaking formally but rapidly.
"Greetings, humans. Am I to understand that you sadly happened upon this battle in progress? My most profound apologies. I'm afraid we cannot control where the Demons attack, although we try to keep them away from human settlements."
The rest of the squad returns in time to see the new Dragon appear, and are all too surprised when he melds into a human form. Roset approaches the creature, obviously the leader despite his hard breathing and the sweat stains around his shirt. He, too, doesn't understand the creature. "Now I don't know what the hell is going on here," he begins, "but I'd like an explanation! Half my men are dead!" He takes a deep breath, then begins again, "And I want to know what the HELL those things were!" He points to the carci near the portal.
Mullen stands, careful not to disrupt the half-dead Dragon at his feet. "Hold on, sir," he tries, but is interrupted.
"And what in God's name makes you think you can go panzying around out here while we're being chewed at like some rag-toy, soldier? You must be half out of your mind!"
Mullen lowers his head. "I don't know, sir. But the new dragon is a medic..."
The White looks confused and taken aback, as well as impatient. He sees the injured dragon, and senses two more of his comrades out there as well as another lying injured back where the battle began, and wants to get started. He frowns, blue-haired brows snapping together.
"It is a war, sir human. If you didn't know that...well. Either way, you will get an explaination if you are patient, but for now my own comrades need attention." Thinking that the man understands, he steps around him and towards the fallen female dragon, kneeling beside her and holding his hands over her battered body. As per the vision, a while glow surrounds the half-dead woman, and the wounds melt back into a more natural shape. The extent of her wounds is so thorough that he breaks out in a sweat before he finishes, and has to lean back and sit on the ground for a moment when he's finished.
The other two dragons land shortly, but remain in dragon form. One of them is a smaller juvenille, the other a middle-aged female, not that the humans can tell so readily. The elder goes in the direction of the first Dragon injured, and the trainee to the two still standing.
The Sergeant stands as though he's been slapped in the face. To have a creature just walk past him, muttering jibberish all the while with a pompous attitude! Mullen sees that his superior is about to possibly dig himself deeper, and decides that he has to do something. The Dragon-woman had managed to communicate to him through pictures.... well, maybe he could communicate to this healer the same way. He tried to think at the Dragon-turned-man, with pictures, (it was hard!) of first the Earth side of the portal, and then of the transfer itself, and then of the fight. Maybe it would work. In any case, he felt slightly dizzy afterwards. All of this happened in a moment, before the Sergeant could begin his tirade again.
The healer, who had only moments before finished his healing job, looks up quickly at Mullen. He's not as strong a telepath as the female Earth dragon who had opened contact with the man, but he has enough of the skill to catch the message. He tilts his head, brow furrowed, still not knowing that they can't understand him.
"Can you not speak aloud?" He pauses, and hurries on to assure. "I understand you came through the portal and got caught in the battle, but I do not recognize the place you are from. This... this is a Pentagram portal, so I assume it leads to a world other than this one, and.... oh." It dawns on him why no one has responded to him directly yet. "Oh."
That realization made he sits back and concentrates, scanning over the man's mind in a rudimentary fashion, constructing images of what's left of the group following along with the remaining Dragons when the others return. A suggestion, although the dizzy man may take it as a command.
Mullen contemplates how to break the strange images to Roset, without being spattered across the ground. He decides to allow the Sergeant to vent before saying anything: after all, it would be better that a creature who is obviously skilled at healing take the brunt than one tired, shocked, confused soldier. Roset's tirade lasts until his breath gives out, and by this point, he has to stop to regain it. He takes a deep breath, releases an explosive sigh, and then turns to face his men. He doesn't expect any answers from the man, and so for the time being, ignores him. "We had better be heading back to report everything that happened," he started, "you had better have had your head-sets recording everything! I doubt anyone would believe that any of this happened if they didn't see it." He pointed to the two mechs, (the second having returned, blood spattered and slightly dented) and gestures them forwards. "You two will stay behind. We need to keep a guard on the vicinity. I don't want this happening to -anyone- in the future." Mullen decides that now would be a good time to speak up. "Sir, perhaps it would be a better idea to follow these... these Dragons. They seem to know what they're doing." He gestures to the medic, hoping hard that Roset would see some sense in the matter.
Through the Sergeant's rant, the Dragon waits patiently, rising to his feet and crossing his arms. The human doesn't understand, it seems, and can't be faulted for that, he supposes. Wishing for a better telepath, one that could pluck these odd humans' language from their minds and absorb it into their own, he sighs faintly. Nothing can be done now.
Bringing him from his wait abruptly, he realizes that Mullen has gotten the idea. He nods his head slowly in agreement, trying to look as trustworthy as possible.
In the meantime, the younger trainee healer- dragon trots in with the two Earth dragons following behind, all of them in Dragon form. One of the Earths seems to groan, padding over to the fallen female's side and crouching, examining her carefully.
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